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After legalization, Hempfest more celebration than protest

Hempfest 2014, which began Friday, brings marijuana aficionados from far and wide to Seattle for legal weed and camaraderie.

By Katharine Schwab
Seattle Times staff reporter

Seattle’s very own “protestival” is back — without much to protest.

Hempfest 2014 has the usual tie-dye T-shirt-wearing, dread-headed, high-minded attendees, but with marijuana now legal in Washington state, the tone of the 23-year-old festival has shifted from dissent to celebration.

Still, the festival’s guide urges activists to “soldier on in the struggle for full legalization.”

“This is the one plant that can revolutionize the world,” said Seattle resident Jacob Junkman, who spends much of his time volunteering at medical dispensaries and was wearing a T-shirt that read “Marijuana is safer than alcohol.”